Monday, 18 October 2010

SIR – The Arts Council’s decision to remove funding from the Gwent Theatre leaves a black hole in the provision of theatre in education for some of the most deprived communities in Wales (“Arts to suffer ‘irreversible’ harm from funding cuts”, Oct 7).

Gwent alone losing theatre in education SIR – The Arts Council’s decision to remove funding from the Gwent Theatre leaves a black hole in the provision of theatre in education for some of the most deprived communities in Wales (“Arts to suffer ‘irreversible’ harm from funding cuts”, Oct 7).

Yet there is remarkably little clarity as to how this decision was reached.

The council’s chief executive, Nick Capaldi, suggested that between 2005 and 2009 revenue support to the eight companies providing theatre in education had increased by 7%, whereas attendances had decreased by 17%.

In the case of Gwent Theatre, revenue funding was increased by 5% in 2007-08, but this followed several years of standstill funding, and between 2002 and 2009 total annual attendances for all aspects of theatre in education increased from 88,862 to 158,361 – impressive, when set against the context of falling school rolls.

The decision by the Arts Council to cut funding for the Gwent Theatre leaves the area without any provision for theatre in education, in stark contrast to other parts of Wales where provision is to be maintained.

Surely the Arts Council is duty bound to ensure that every child in Wales has access to the same cultural opportunities and experiences, regardless of where they were born?

LYNNE NEAGLE AM for Torfaen

JESSICA MORDEN MP for Newport East

Take their seats SIR – The proposed closure of Wales’ only Passport Office is the latest in a long line of discriminatory acts against Wales and her people.

They include the infamous Barnett formula which all Welsh Labour MPs failed to change despite all their huffing and puffing. Now we have the unlawful and arrogant threat to the S4C budget and all the private Welsh film companies, the failure to do away with Severn Bridge tolls, and probably the decision to postpone the electrification of the Swansea- London line.

The list of curt decisions not to give Wales a fair chance can only remind us that Welsh interests in the hands of English majority parties are always bottom of the list.

Apart from the use of force, which Westminster always takes seriously, the only legal option that Wales has is to vote the main parties out of their seats.

One can only surmise what the difference would have been if we had elected three or four extra Plaid MPs at the last election. It is when the main parties lose seats that Wales is then taken seriously by Westminster governments. They tread carefully in Northern Ireland, are petrified that the SNP could gain a majority in Scotland, but poor, predictable Wales is left in the waiting room. The only “real politik” is to make the new coalition Government and the Labour Party realise that their safe seats in Wales can no longer be taken for granted.

If Plaid had won Monmouth, do you really believe that the Severn Bridge tax would still be a settled matter and the threat to our Passport Office a foregone conclusion?

GWYNN BOWYER Carmarthen

Think again SIR – The potential loss of Newport’s Passport Office, employing around 300 people, could have a big impact in and around Newport, where the public sector plays an important role in the local economy.

We have one Passport Office in Wales and its loss would be keenly felt. We should not have to be reliant on making the arduous trek to Liverpool or London simply to access passport services. We need to send a clear message to the ConDems in London that Wales will not be treated in this way – so think again and save the Passport Office.

JONATHAN T CLARK Plaid Cymru candidate, South East Wales

Voting for London SIR – I trust we aren’t surprised that our English masters have decided to close the Newport Passport Office as we know it.

The offices in England are safe – they of course look after their own. The office in Scotland is safe also – there would be uproar there if they were treated with such contempt. Not in Wales though, they will do whatever they wish here because we are not respected enough to even warrant their contempt!

But don’t blame the “nasty old Tories”, we are the ones to blame, or at least those 90% of us who when we voted, dutifully voted to maintain colonial rule by mainstream, London-centric, unionist parties.

L JONES Abertyleri, Blaenau Gwent

Take-up of Welsh SIR – I think that it would have been more honest of Nick Bourne (“Bourne defends Tory view on bilingualism”, Oct 9) if, when stating that “A recent report by Consumer Focus Wales found that 80% of the people that it surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that services should be available in Welsh,” he mentioned that the survey only asked Welsh speakers for their opinion.

Interestingly he doesn’t bother to mention that this same survey also found that when asked whether it was important to them personally that they could access a service in Welsh found a high degree of indifference.

Of those not fluent 74% said that it was of little or no importance to them whether a private sector business provided a Welsh service. Of the same group, 68% said that it was of little or no importance if a public service body provided a Welsh service.

The proportion of fluent Welsh speakers in the Welsh population is just 12% and, as you would expect, this sample was more concerned to see Welsh services. Nevertheless, even here, 37% said that they personally found it of little or no importance if a private sector business provided a Welsh service; 30% were similarly indifferent to Welsh provision from the public sector.

It is little wonder that the take up of Welsh services is so small.

JH JONES Ynys Môn

Labour’s legacy SIR – I think it was Heinrich Himmler who said the larger the lie you told, the more likely people were to believe it.

The Coalition seem to following his example, because every comment by any member of the coalition contains the reference to the terrible financial legacy left by the Labour Government.

This is not true, the critical portion of the deficit is due to collapsing revenue during a global financial crisis, a product of market failure rather than state inefficiency. This was not helped by the incompetence, verging on folly, of the bankers and other so called financial experts.

If Gordon Brown hadn’t stepped in to rescue the banks, and thus set an example for the rest of the world, it is highly possible we would have seen the collapse of the banking system.

It may be no coincidence that both leaders of the coalition are closely connected to the banking system and the stock market, the perpetrators of the financial collapse, and thus are in a state of denial over the folly and guilt of the banks. It is a measure of their ideological dogma, as reborn Thatcherites, that rather than applying Keynesian economics and securing growth and keeping people in jobs, they are gleefully talking of austerity, and propose cutting both jobs and benefits.

Every time the coalition speaks, we should remember the words of Himmler, and recall Aneurin Bevan’s view of the Tories.

JOHN OWEN Ludlow Street, Caerphilly

One of the crowd SIR – I met David Hurn at a photographic exhibition at Third Floor Gallery at the bottom of Bute Street in Cardiff, where he was enjoying the work of fellow photographers.

Although I had been told he enjoyed a huge reputation I had no idea, before reading your article in the magazine and seeing some of his work that it was such a distinguished reputation (“I’ve never lost faith in photography”, Oct 9).

He was, to all intents and purposes, just another of the crowd who regularly enjoy the prestigious work at this gallery.

I had to decline my invitation today at Third Floor Gallery to their latest launch of On Street Photography because, as their name implies, they are three storeys above Cardiff streetlife and I have hurt my leg. With no lift it all seemed impossible!

They immediately e-mailed back and said that if I gave them notice they would willingly carry me upstairs. How about that for customer service? I reckon that would take a bit of beating.

JUDITH TOMS Trecynon, Aberdare

Better by car SIR – The recent Cardiff park&ride stranding and the train football hooligan debacle illustrate perfectly why the British public will never trust public transport – it is expensive, dirty, unsafe, unreliable and unpleasant to use.

Until legislation forces companies to clean up their act, provide a safe, reliable service at an affordable price, and pay penalties for non-performance, I for one will be sticking to my car.

IAN MCNICHOLAS Waunlwyd, Ebbw Vale

Cut from the top SIR – We are all painfully aware of the imminent cuts in public spending about to be imposed upon us. None of which is the making of Joe/Joan public who, as we are all aware, will have to pay for it.

We would like to think that those making the decisions take a long hard look at the massively top heavy institutions that they represent and just for once cut from the top down.

As a county councillor myself in Pembrokeshire (Labour) I am in no doubt that if the numbers of councillors were to be halved there would be no detrimental impact on anybody (other than the dear old councillors).

This in Pembrokeshire alone would save around £500,000 when you include extra allowances, mileage etc. This money could then be used to pay wages of people who really do make a difference.

So come on decision makers, let’s once and for all abandon the self preservation societies that have ruled this country for centuries by ditching the company cars and generous expense accounts.